Rarely have I had such a neutral reaction to a book. I find the setting interesting and the characters absolutely flat - this is a folk tale dragged out to far past its natural length, but I think more important than the deadening effect of the characterisation is the fact that, even so, I can't stand the main character. He's unpleasant. Unpleasant protagonists can be interesting, of course, but Mebet never is. He's just sort of there, a plastic representation of archetype, and I'd like to say he gets what's coming to him and he sort of does, but it's all so watered down and emotionless that what's coming is the spiritual equivalent of a slap on the back of the wrist with a wet bus ticket. 

I do think there's a kernel of something compelling here, but it never quite reaches it for me, not on any level.